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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273941">Bugs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThunderDragonfruit/pseuds/ThunderDragonfruit'>ThunderDragonfruit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hollow Knight (Video Games), Invader Zim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:35:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,340</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThunderDragonfruit/pseuds/ThunderDragonfruit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zim and his trusty robot companion have stumbled into a strange world! What will they do?</p>
<p>The answer: Screw up everything.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. What the fuck is going on?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My brain said “make this” and I did. This is my second fic. Enjoy, maybe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zim didn’t know how he got here. He only knew the violent gusts of wind that rushed past him, pushing him forward. With each passing minute, it felt as if more of his memories were blown away by the wind, like the howling blasts were slowly chipping away at his very mind. He was vaguely aware of the feeling of metal clinging to his neck. It took much effort for him to recall that the metal was indeed Gir. Zim’s robot companion had latched onto his neck at some point, and remained attached to his back, likely scared of being blown away by the wind. In any other situation, Zim would have thrown the robot off of him, but here he begrudgingly acknowledged that if he did not allow Gir to continue to cling to him, the two may become separated, which would not be convenient in the least.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim’s mind managed to produce a foggy thought; That he should not be as tired as he was. His Pak should have been providing him with, at the very least, enough energy to remain awake. But whatever power this place held had sapped hid energy, and then his thoughts, and then his determination. The edges of his vision grew dark, and Zim knew that unconsciousness was near, and due to the harsh climate, death would likely follow soon after.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What a shame it was, he thought, to die before completing his mission. His mission? But before he could recall what that mission even was, his knees buckled, and he felt Gir’s grip tighten as Zim’s body finally gave in, and he hit the ground just as the world faded to black.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim slowly regained consciousness, and his senses sluggishly came back to him. He became aware of the hard, cold metal under him, and then of a voice speaking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He quickly realized this voice was not from anyone he knew.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim’s eyes shot open, and he pushed himself up instantly, despite his body’s protests. His mind reeled, thinking of all of the bad things that might have happened while he was out. Perhaps he had been captured by the people who inhabited this place, and-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As Zim took in his surroundings, it quickly became clear to him that he was in no immediate danger. He appeared to have ended up in a town of sorts, with odd, round houses. The voice came from the thing that stood directly in front of him. It had a white face with two oval-shaped black eyes, and a mouth that appeared to be stuck in a perpetual frown. It bore two horns, which curved up and then inward. It had a cloak of sorts, which moved slightly in the wind. It spoke to a creature that looked very similar to it, except smaller and lacking a mouth of any kind. The two creatures realized that Zim had awoken and looked over to where he sat on what Zim had realized was a bench.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The larger creature opened its mouth to say something to him, but was interrupted by a high-pitched, annoying but familiar voice. “MASTER!” Gir squealed with delight, quickly jumping up and hugging Zim, squeezing him so hard that Zim feared he might break his bones.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim shoved Gir off just as he began to screech once more. “Master! You fell over at the windy place so I brought you here!” Gir’s voice grated on Zim’s nerves, but once he got started there was no stopping him. “The nice old man put you on the BENCH!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The larger creature was finally given a chance to speak. “Hello there! That companion of yours happened to come by our town while dragging you around like a sort of stuffed toy! When I asked what happened, he only said some nonsense about squirrels. Welcome to Dirtmouth! Sadly, it’s just me and my friend here, but we’re glad to have your company!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim stared at the being in front of him, and finally got into the state of mind to speak. He jumped up from the bench and shouted, “WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” in an awkward manner. Typically he would have said more, but his brain was nothing short of scrambled at this point.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Needless to say, the stranger was surprised by this outburst, but replied nonetheless. “I am Elderbug, and this is-“ Elderbug paused for a moment, thinking. He turned to the smaller creature that stood beside him. “I never did catch your name, did I?” The creature simply shrugged, and Elderbug seemed to simply accept that he would never know the creature’s name.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“The tiny thing. Is it unable to communicate?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems so. If they can talk, they’ve never said anything to me before.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The thing simply patted Elderbug in response, as if confirming what he had said as true.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim looked around once more, trying to make sense of all that had happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gir was trying to eat a rock.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>This was going to be a long day.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Who the fuck am I?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zim quickly discovered that there was no easy way out of the place that he had stumbled upon.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>To one side, aggressive winds prevented anyone from traveling beyond a certain point. To the other, a seemingly endless cave filled with sharp crystals made it clear that getting past on that side would be no easy task. Zim had tried to climb across those crystals using his pak legs, and had nearly gotten himself impaled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So he sat on the bench in dirtmouth, bored out of his mind, while Gir tried to eat things that weren’t food. The tiny, empty looking creature had disappeared into the well a while ago, so only Elderbug remained. Zim considered going down into that well too, but as soon as he had stepped near it, a disgusting smell had reached his antennae, effectively driving him away. He didn’t want to know anyone or anything that could produce a stench that rancid.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Elderbug began to talk to him occasionally, and, while Zim would usually yell at him or something, he didn’t really have anything better to do. Listening to the old man ramble wasn’t entertaining in the least, but was still better than watching Gir eat dirt all day.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, lulled to sleep by the drone of Elderbug’s voice, Zim drifted off, and began to dream.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim may have forgotten his mission, and many other important details about his life, but if there was one thing he was sure he would never forget, it was his Almighty Tallest. And he remembered that he needed their… respect? Yes, that was it. He didn’t even seem to remember why.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The two figures appeared before him on a screen of sorts, one red and one purple, just like always. Zim stood near the screen in some kind of room. There was a certain familiarity to the place he was in, but he could not recall where it was. Whether that was due to the strange winds or the haze of the dream, he did not know.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The figures whispered things, just quiet enough for him to be unable to hear. Perhaps they were giving orders? He didn’t have time to question their muffled words any more before he was promptly thrust out of the dream.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Zim awoke, the very first thing that he became aware of was two big, empty eyes mere inches away. Zim screeched in surprise and quickly shoved the creature away from him. The thing, which had apparently been standing directly in his lap and staring him in the face for who knows how long, fell backward and landed on the ground, but remained completely unfazed. It stared up at him, expression unreadable.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“What do </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> want?” Zim hissed at the being.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It did not answer. It only continued to stare. Then, after a moment of silence, the being got up once more and began to head off towards the building near the bench. The stag way, as Elderbug had called it. Zim thought for a moment, and then jumped up from the bench. The thing looked at him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Zim will… accompany you” he said to it. Zim may have been naive, but he wasn’t excessively stupid. This creature seemed to know what it was doing, and it was clear to see that it was his best shot at getting back home. Wherever that was. It was then that Zim realized he had no idea who he was or what he was doing. He was Zim. He was an Invader. He would die if he were ever to remove his pak for more than ten minutes. He had his SIR unit, Gir, who liked to eat things, whether those things were food or not. That was legitimately the extent of his knowledge. What </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>an Invader? Why would he die if he took off his pak?</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>He decided he’d just ignore that problem until it became an issue. He picked up Gir, who had still been slumbering on the bench next to him, and began to follow the odd, expressionless creature.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <br/>
  <span>The Stag had been nice to all three of the travelers despite the fact that Zim, with all of his rudeness, probably didn’t deserve his kindness in the least. Despite that, the Stag still actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>thanked </span>
  </em>
  <span>the three for riding the stagways. Zim did not understand this in the least. Hadn’t the Stag just provided them with a service? Whatever. It wasn’t like he cared.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>As Zim walked out of the station, he noted that the smell didn’t seem as bad now. Good. It would make traveling through the place more bearable. He didn’t know how big this place was, or even if there was an exit anywhere in the ruins. He didn’t even know where he was going. Both him and Gir were at the complete mercy of this thing whose name they didn’t even know.</span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim began to realize the full scale of what he had just become a part of.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Can somebody please fucking explain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>One of the very first things to become apparent about this place was that it was not free of danger in the slightest. The small creature that Zim followed behind seemed surprisingly skilled with its weapon, and seemed oddly intent on ensuring that no harm would come to Zim or Gir, but no matter how many of the shambling husks that inhabited this place were slain, it would do nothing to the feeling of danger that constantly seemed to be present in Zim’s mind.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Typically it would be hard to navigate the ruins while carrying someone, but Gir happened to be rather light, and Zim could just use his pak legs to climb anything that would usually require use of his arms. For some reason, he didn’t feel like waking Gir up and having him walk on his own, despite the fact that it may have made the trip a bit easier. Zim reasoned that he must have held a sort of fondness for the robot before he had lost all of his memories, and still retained that. And then Zim began to feel a disgust towards that thought, as if holding a fondness for anything should be bad. Then he was thoroughly confused. He wished that he knew exactly why that notion had been seemingly drilled into his brain.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That turned out to be a question for later, because the trio had apparently arrived at their destination, if the tiny creature’s behavior was any indication. It had stopped, and then drawn its… sword… thingy. Zim thought back to Elderbug’s ramblings, and remembered that it was called a nail.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim looked forwards and saw the reasoning for its action. A rather large bug stood before them, appearing to be asleep. It weilded a huge club, one that could no doubt do significant damage. Zim doubted the trio could sneak past it without waking it up. The narrow caverns would make inching around it nearly impossible and-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim’s train of thought was interrupted by the small creature charging forward towards the large bug. It was an almost amusing sight. The thing was even smaller than he was, and the large bug was practically the size of a truck.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The creature surprisingly did not get crushed right away. It would dart in to slash at the bug a few times, and then dart back out of range before it could get clobbered. This repeated for some time. Zim was quickly convinced that the creature would have an easy victory.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That is, until it darted out just a second too late.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was a very painful thing to witness, let alone experience. Zim couldn’t have imagined what it must have felt like to be on the receiving end of that sickening </span>
  <em>
    <span>Crack!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim was sure the thing had to be dead, but to his surprise, as the club lifted the creature was still there, badly injured, but alive nonetheless. As the bug raised its club again, it was clear that the thing would not be able to recover in time. So, despite Zim’s instinct to simply let the thing be killed, he shifted Gir to one arm and lunged at the bug, pak legs at the ready.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim stabbed the sharp, metal legs into the giant bug as hard and as fast as he could. It had already taken significant damage from the tiny creature’s attacks, and so it wasn’t too surprising when, after only a few hits from Zim, it wavered on its feet and then fell forward onto the ground with a pained noise, with Zim still attached to its back by his pak legs. He knew that the metal would likely be stained with the horrible orange goop that leaked from everything in these caverns until he could find something with which to clean them off. He grumbled, not wanting to be anywhere near said goop, but still folded the legs back into his pak.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then, remembering the reason he had attacked in the first place, he began to look around for the little creature. It wasn’t hard to find, seeing as its white mask was probably the brightest thing around for miles, besides the flies that seemed to have been a sort of light source for the people originally living here. They were only a foot or two away from the giant bug’s corpse. Zim could see that they were pretty badly injured. Their mask was cracked and a black liquid that he presumed was its blood leaked through, dripping down and pooling at its feet. Zim quickly realized they were likely in no state to run around. But before he could fuss about how much of an inconvenience patching up its wounds would be, or grumble about how much time it was going to take up, a white glow surged from the creature for a few seconds and when it dissipated, the thing was absolutely fine. Not a scratch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Zim decided he had had enough bullshit for today, and elected to simply ignore it and move on. So he shifted Gir to carry him in both arms once more, and the trio went on their way again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Right up until metal bars slammed down in front of them, and the entire room began to shake.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Writing Zim in this situation is odd. In the show and comics, Zim makes being a part of the irken empire and being an “invader” a huge part of who he is. Like, if Zim was not raised in irken society, he would be an entirely different person. In this fic, he has minimal memory of the irken empire. It’s fun but also hard to think about how he would behave without that part of himself.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Wait, What the Fuck?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The thing that dropped from the ceiling was somehow even larger than the trio’s previous foe, and looked even stronger. Strong metal armor surrounded its round body entirely, and it wielded a huge mace. Zim wondered how they were going to get out of this alive. They hadn’t even been able to beat the club-wielding bug without the tiny creature being put dangerously close to death.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Of course, there was no time to think about it, because the giant thing had already started wildly slamming its mace at anything that moved. Both Zim and the tiny creature darted around, dodging its attacks. They were relatively easy to maneuver around, but taking just one hit could be devastating coming from this creature. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The tiny thing seemed to figure out the creature’s “Pattern” rather quickly. Only then did it begin attacking. It was a good strategy, Zim thought. If it were simply him against an enemy, and he hadn’t been holding his sleeping robot companion, he would have simply charged in and started attacking immediately. He considered amending this. And then did not amend it. The thing seemed to be handling it well, so Zim simply focused on dodging the attacks. The giant creature would continually slam its mace into the ground, sometimes creating a shockwave that he could avoid by simply jumping over it. It was easy enough, even with both arms taken up.</span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>After the tiny thing had landed quite a few hits, the giant creature collapsed, seemingly from exhaustion. Its helmet popped off, revealing a white, chubby face. It gasped for breath as the tiny thing ran towards it to take advantage of the creature’s weakness. Its blade easily sliced through the creature’s skin multiple times, before it quickly got up and regained its strength.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The creature leapt through the air, landing in the center of the room. It yelled, and then seemed to have some sort of tantrum as it slammed its mace into the ground repeatedly, causing large boulders to fall from the ceiling and crash to the floor. Zim screeched as boulder after boulder missed him by barely an inch. The tiny thing, however, seemed to be in its element, easily maneuvering around the hulking rocks. The giant creature returned to its previous pattern, slamming the ground, jumping, slamming.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Of course it couldn’t all go completely well. The giant creature leapt and the tiny thing, rushing to get to the other side of it, happened to be just under where the creature landed. Of course, the tiny thing took a good hit, but it recovered quickly and got away with only a few cracks in its mask. However, Zim, who had been convinced by the previous incident that the thing would already be near death after taking that hit, panicked. He summoned his pak lasers, which he had only just now remembered, and shot at the giant, armored creature several times. These lasers proceeded to bounce off of the metal, and fly around the room wildly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone in the room ducked, understandably not wanting to get hit by said lasers. They whizzed past, most being extinguished into the floor, but a couple hit the wall that had been weakened by the armored creature’s tantrum, effectively causing the wall to cave in, revealing a path out. Zim, still panicking, zipped past the armored creature, grabbed the tiny thing by its stubby arm, and he, it, and Gir all tumbled out of the hole and onto the ground just outside the room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The tiny thing gave him a look to the extent that it could, tilting its head to the side.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> looking at?! I just saved our lives!” he grumbled, still slightly out of breath. The thing simply turned tail and walked right back into the room to resume the battle. Whatever. If it wanted to die at the hands of that </span>
  <em>
    <span>creature</span>
  </em>
  <span>, then he couldn’t care less. Good riddance.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So, Zim was alone for the time being. He looked down at Gir, and realized that there was absolutely no way in hell that fiasco wouldn’t have woken him up. He remembered enough to know that Gir was not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> heavy of a sleeper. In a last ditch effort, Zim began lightly shaking him. “Gir? It’s time to wake up now.” he said quietly. No response. Zim instantly resorted to shaking Gir so hard that he could hear whatever bits of trash Gir had stored in his head rattling around, and began screeching directly in his face. “Gir?! GIR?!” he shouted at the robot, trying desperately to wake him up. Eventually he gave up, setting the robot before him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gir clearly wasn’t broken. Zim could still hear the whirring that came from the mechanics that made him work, no different than usual. Perhaps his battery was low? Zim couldn’t recall ever having to recharge Gir, but then again, he currently couldn’t recall much in general. Perhaps it was the location. It would make sense if he were, for example, solar powered. Zim hadn’t seen a single bit of sunlight the entire time he’d been here, and half of that time was spent aboveground. He wondered if the sun had ever shone here. And then he thought back to Gir. It would be foolish to try to manually figure out what was wrong, as he didn’t have any tools to fix anything if something were to go wrong. He figured it would be best to simply carry him around until he could find a way back home, wherever that was. He considered-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“GAH!” Zim exclaimed as he looked slightly to his side. The tiny thing was right there, staring at him just as intense as always. “How long have you been there?!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The thing stayed silent as ever, but stepped towards him and put its creepy little hand on the side of his face. How dare it put its filthy hands on ZIM?! But before he could say anything, it pulled its hand away and then pointed to Gir, still looking at Zim. So it was aware of his dilemma, then. “I don’t know what’s wrong. He won’t wake up.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The thing looked at Gir for a moment, before grabbing his hand and dragging him like a sack of potatoes in the opposite direction that the the three were originally going. Zim quickly stopped it. “Let’s just keep going. If I can get home, I’ll be able to fix him.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The thing tilted its head at him, and then began walking back towards the group’s supposed “destination”.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Who the Fuck are you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Needless to say, the sight of a bunch of what seemed to be skulls on sticks was unsettling. But when the group reached the center, the creature that lived there seemed rather non threatening. He introduced himself as the “Snail Shaman” and then proceeded to completely ignore Zim’s presence and only talk to the tiny thing, saying something about spells or something. Whatever. Zim was content to simply sit on the bench and wait. That is, until there was a big flash and the tiny thing was suddenly lying on the ground unconscious. Zim quickly jumped up from the bench and ran to go help, but apparently not quick enough because the Snail Shaman had already thrown the thing behind a bunch of iron bars. However, Zim was nothing if not ridiculously small, and with some struggling just barely squeezed through the bars as the Snail Shaman watched in utter confusion. Zim began trying to bring the thing back through the bars, but it quickly became clear that despite it being shorter than Zim, its… head? Shell? Was too large to fit through the bars. Zim then glared at the Snail Shaman, who seemed amused by this entire situation.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Zim sat down, crossed his arms, and grumbled about how he had to deal with </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> unconscious companions now while he waited for the thing to wake up. If it did, that was. After a few minutes, he looked up and realized that the Snail Shaman had fallen asleep. He considered maybe attacking him or something, but he wasn’t really feeling up to it at this point. He was too tired to commit acts of violence at the moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As usually happens when one is in a room with other sleeping people with nothing else to do, Zim himself eventually drifted off as well.</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was just like the last time.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Once again, the tallest stood before him on that familiar screen, demanding that he do… something.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>But it was getting clearer, slowly.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>He was so close.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>So close…</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He awoke to the voice of the Snail Shaman talking to the tiny thing. Boy, he really needed to find something better to call it. The thing then got up, obviously with the intention to get something done. Hopefully the two of them would be set free after this. Although, Zim could slip out at any time… But he wasn’t going to leave it behind, not after it had already shown its skill in combat many times. He got up to follow it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Not even a few seconds later, the two came across a normal bug husk. Zim expected the thing to draw its nail and slash at it like normal, but to his surprise, instead a huge blast of white erupted from the thing and vaporised the bug. Maybe that was what the Snail Shaman had done to it? No time to question anything, the thing was already running ahead, slashing at some little rolling bugs of some kind. They picked up some shiny thing that was on the ground, and then dropped down into a hole without even looking down to see where it went. Typical. Zim extended his pak legs and anchored himself to the ledge to peek down. The thing was battling what seemed to be a bigger version of one of the rolling bugs. It seemed to be handling itself well, so Zim didn’t drop down until the giant rolling bug had been slain.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The Snail Shaman was pleased by the things success, and let both of them go. However, Zim was sure to give him the nastiest look possible as he passed by. Zim then picked up Gir from the bench and the group continued on their way.</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The thing seemed to know exactly where to go now. It rushed towards its destination, and, remembering something he thought of earlier, Zim ran to its side and turned to it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“TINY THING!” he yelled, instantly gaining its attention. It stopped and turned to look at him. “Do you have a name?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It simply stared at him. Of course, it likely couldn’t answer. But then it turned its head down, seemingly thinking about something. And then it drew its nail and held it out in front of itself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you-“ Oh. It was trying to convey what its name was through actions. “Nail?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It shook its head, and then took a sort of stance, like a statue would.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Stab? Slash?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Another head shake.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The group continued to walk as Zim made guess after guess. The game of charades wasn’t turning out to be very successful, but it was passing the time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And plus, it was a small price to pay to learn their name.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this time on: i cannot write dream sequences! oh well.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Who the fuck are you 2: Electric Boogaloo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So you’re trying to convey… some kind of profession?” Zim questioned.</p>
<p>He was met with vigorous nodding.</p>
<p>“That has to do with a weapon.”</p>
<p>Another nod.</p>
<p>Zim thought for a moment. “A guard?”</p>
<p>The thing flipped their stubby hand over and back, a gesture which Zim had learned meant “Close” or “Sort of”</p>
<p>Zim thought really hard this time. And then it came to him. “A knight?”</p>
<p>They jumped up and down rapidly, pointing, nodding, every nonverbal positive reinforcement you could possible think of.</p>
<p>They were the Knight, then.</p>
<p>They came to a stop at one of those big roll-up bugs. Zim stood back while the Knight fired blast after blast at it, defeating it in mere seconds. Zim assumed that this had been an obstacle that they couldn’t overcome until now. The group continued on, hopped over some acid, and walked into an area bursting with foliage. Zim had seen nothing but washed-out blues and blacks since he had arrived here, so this was certainly a change of pace. Gir probably would have said something about monkeys right about now. Zim frowned slightly at this thought.</p>
<p>Then, both Zim and the Knight looked up to see a figure that dashed away before either could make out any features.</p>
<p>Panic set in.</p>
<p>The Knight leapt toward the platform, but just about missed it by an inch or so. Zim realized that they likely weren’t going to be able to make that jump, and so he deployed his pak legs to lift them up to it. They just barely grabbed the edge and scrabbled up onto it, and then took off at an insane speed that Zim hadn’t seen them run at before. He jumped, just barely grabbing the platform, and pulled himself up.</p>
<p>The Knight was already long gone. How did they go that fast?? But it was no matter, he’d simply have to catch up.</p>
<p>Zim speed walked through an area that looked rather similar to the crossroads, until he heard some sort of… yelling? He looked up and saw a huge fly-looking sort of creature, munching on something with horns and a pale white… head…</p>
<p>The Knight was in trouble! Zim promptly set Gir down on the ground, and let out an angry scream as he charged forward towards the fly. Deploying lasers and shooting those while also lunging at the fly and clawing at it like a rabid animal, he made short work of it and it quickly dropped the Knight and exploded into a bunch of orange goopy stuff. Gross. Zim turned to the Knight, who had since gotten up, and-</p>
<p>Hey, wait, that wasn’t the Knight at all!</p>
<p>“Who the heck are you?!” Zim said to the not-Knight</p>
<p>“I-“</p>
<p>“WHO?!”</p>
<p>“I am Zote the Mighty, Knight of great renown and I-“</p>
<p>It was then that Zim remembered that he still had to catch up with the Knight, and shoved Zote out of the way and ran past him. He picked up Gir and then crossed the room as Zote shouted profanities at him.</p>
<p>After some harsh battles with the orange-goop-ridden inhabitants of this place, Zim came across a odd looking entrance. It looked sort of like a mouth, and was carved completely from stone. This absolutely had to be the place that the Knight had gone off to.</p>
<p>Zim plodded in, not really knowing what to expect, and then there was the Knight, lying in the middle of a clearing, seemingly unconscious. Zim rushed to their side and shifted Gir to one arm to shake them awake, and they got up quickly afterward. As soon as their thoughts were all back in place, they suddenly became excited and started tugging on Zim’s leg, as if they wanted to show him something. They then faced directly away from him, and seemed to almost… teleport? Either way, they went from one place to another in a flash.</p>
<p>“What was that?” Zim asked, completely confused, which was reasonable considering how little context he had in general.</p>
<p>The Knight simply shrugged and then began walking as if nothing had happened. Zim was used to that at this point, and so he simply followed them without any further questions. They “Dashed” across some puddles of acid while Zim simply carried himself over them using his pak legs, which seemed to be immune to the acid. He doubted anything naturally occuring could be that corrosive. The Knight seemed to have no problem navigating over the pools of sizzling liquid with their newfound ability, and Zim only had to struggle a bit to get over a rather large “pond” of the stuff. It wasn’t long at all before they found what looked to be a temple of sorts. Zim didn’t exactly think that they’d find anything useful in there, but the Knight quickly plodded in so Zim, of course, followed.</p>
<p>The first thing he saw was a bug, sitting there cleaning their weapon.</p>
<p>If Zim’s time in Hallownest had taught him anything at all, it was that everything wants to kill you. As a result, seeing a bug with a weapon instantly activated his fight or flight response. In this case, it was fight.</p>
<p>Zim proceeded to activate every single weapon that he possessed in his pak, which was a surprising amount considering how small it was. Since when did he have buzzsaws?</p>
<p>“WHO ARE YOU?” Zim screeched at the assumed foe.</p>
<p>“I-” The bug tried to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Zim screeching once more.</p>
<p>“WHO?!”</p>
<p>At this point, the Knight, seeing that this was going to go nowhere, stood between the two, facing Zim and spreading their arms out in a clear “They’re with me” gesture. Zim slowly lowered his comical amount of weapons, still glaring at the bug.</p>
<p>With this, the bug finally got a chance to speak without being interrupted by Zim’s panicked screeching.</p>
<p>“I’m Quirrel, a friend to your companion there.” He gestured towards the Knight. “And who might you be?”</p>
<p>Zim cleared his throat dramatically. “I am ZIM! A superior Invader from the planet Irk!” He then lifted the comatose Gir above him and continued, “And this is Gir! My Information Retrieval Unit and loyal servant!”</p>
<p>Quirrel was visibly confused by all of this, but of all the questions he could have asked he decided on, “What does the G stand for?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“If GIR is an acronym, and the I and R stand for ‘Information’ and ‘Retrieval’, the G must stand for something, right?”</p>
<p>Zim considered that for a moment, and then simply said, “That’s classified information.”</p>
<p>“Okay then. So what was all that other stuff about Invaders and Irk and whatnot?”</p>
<p>Zim once again considered what he had said for a while before saying, “Zim… does not remember. Anyways, enough with the questions! What-“</p>
<p>This time it was Zim’s turn to be interrupted. Quirrel turned to the Knight. “How about you? Can you recall any large parts of your past?”</p>
<p>The Knight shook their head.</p>
<p>“Neither can I. It seems to be a bit of a trend here, now that I think about it.”</p>
<p>There was then an awkward silence, which the Knight responded to by simply walking out of the room.</p>
<p>“Guess we’re going, then” Zim said, wondering if this was just how the Knight always behaved, and then followed them without another word.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. How the fuck?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zim sat on the bench in the Queen’s Station, waiting. This wasn’t fair. So what if he had almost fallen into acid upwards of five times? That didn’t mean that The Knight could just leave him here! He had no doubt they’d come back to get him, but he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>bored. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He supposed he could just get up and walk away. Why was he listening to the orders (Not really orders, more like gestures, but still) of some stranger he had only just learned the name of? However, he supposed that if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>get up it would be the quickest way possible to become separated from The Knight, and as much as he didn’t like to admit it, The Knight had saved him and Gir from a ridiculous amount of dangers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So instead of running off, he sat there growing increasingly more bored. Usually, Gir would keep him occupied with his shenanigans, but Gir was still unresponsive due to what he guessed was some battery problem. That left no one to talk to, except, of course-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, where are you and your friend there from?” The Stag said, promptly cutting through the silence.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah, yes, the Stag. He had been there the entire time, of course, but Zim had assumed that he must have been busy or something.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Don’t you have to transport more people or something?” Zim said, sounding rather rude, but when had he ever cared about that?</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The Stag took no notice of Zim’s rude tone. “Actually, no. You, your metal friend, and the traveler are the only passengers I’ve had in years.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim honestly didn’t know why he was surprised by this news. After all, he had been walking through nothing but abandoned ruins since he left Dirtmouth. The only living, functioning creatures he’d seen down here were the Stag, The Knight, and that one person who looked like the Knight but wasn’t. What was his name again? Eh, he didn’t care.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>But all of this begged the question: What exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> happen here?</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Do you know why that is?” Zim asked the Stag.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’ve only ever been in the Stagways. I never saw what happened outside, but from what I overheard it was a sort of sickness. It became a typical conversation topic shortly before the number of people traveling thinned out, and then passengers stopped coming altogether shortly after.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>If he was to be honest, Zim didn’t know how to respond to that. A sickness? So then it must have simply taken over the bodies of those affected, or something like that, which would explain the shambling husks everywhere. Reminded him of some kind of movie he had watched with Gir once. If only he could actually remember anything about it!</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim became aware that the Stag was now staring at him, likely expecting an answer. This situation was beginning to get very awkward. Luckily, the telltale “tap” noises of the Knight approaching saved him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The Knight plodded in and proceeded to grab Zim’s hand to lead him out. The Stag said goodbye to both of them as Zim was half dragged out of the room and back out into the Wastes.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim and the Knight now stood before a great statue, depicting someone who seemed vaguely familiar. Zim then realized that it was the huge armored creature from earlier. The reminder of it sent shudders through his body, and he had to remind himself that the Knight had long since killed the creature. Then again, had the trio not been fought by many, many dead people already? He didn’t really want to think about it too much. He instead turned his attention back over to the Knight, who appeared to be inserting something into the statue. The oval-shaped crest fit in perfectly, and shortly after it was put into place Zim became aware of the sounds of old gears grinding, and watched in awe as what he had originally thought was a great big wall next to them turned out to be a door that lifted slowly as the ancient but seemingly still working mechanisms did their job.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>As the trio walked past the door, Zim marveled at the fact that something that had gone so long without maintenance could still-</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <em>
    <span>CRASH</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Nevermind.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The great door had fallen behind them, effectively preventing them from getting out. He was very lucky that the Knight had come back to get him before unlocking it. Well, they were stuck wherever this was for the time being. Hopefully this place wasn’t a dead end, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>very hopefully</span>
  </em>
  <span> wouldn’t have quite as much acid. He didn’t want to be left (mostly) alone again.</span>
</p><p><span><br/></span><span>But it seems Zim had spent all of his luck on that door, because not even a few steps into the new place, his antennae picked up a very familiar</span> <span>sound.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rain.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>oh by the way, just a quick tip. in this story if you see that a chapter is in the knight's perspective, there's a good chance that something bad is going to happen in that chapter. just something to keep in mind :).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. FUCKING WATER</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The group runs into a few troubles with the City of Tears.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zim watched as the Knight walked right out into that horrible, horrible </span>
  <em>
    <span>rain</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He didn’t necessarily remember what was so bad about the rain per se, but he just knew deep in his bones that there was something absolutely abysmal about it, and that he wasn’t going out into it under any circumstances whatsoever. When the Knight realized he wasn’t following, they turned around to face him, as if beckoning him to come forward. Zim shook his head and clutched Gir closer to himself as a scared child would do to a stuffed toy. The Knight walked back into the elevator, and for a second Zim was relieved, thinking they had changed their mind, but the Knight began tugging on his shirt(? Dress? Tunic? Whatever.), trying to drag him out into it. Had he been expecting it, he could have easily stayed in place, as the Knight was not putting much strength into their insistent tugging, but seeing as he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>expecting it, he toppled right out of the elevator out into the rain and directly onto the wet, wet ground.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim was very sure that everyone in this </span>
  <em>
    <span>cursed </span>
  </em>
  <span>city heard his screams.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Through his ear-splitting howls of pain and the sound of his own skin sizzling as the water ate away at it, he was vaguely aware of the Knight dragging him and Gir, who he had accidentally dropped, back into the elevator.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>It was a good five minutes before he finally calmed down, and became aware that the Knight was sitting down in front of him, waiting patiently. And then became aware of a figure stomping angrily out of the shadows.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Who in this INSUFFERABLE place is making that AWFUL noise?!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Apparently he was correct about everyone in the city being able to hear him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>It was a wonder that this new bug wasn’t tripping on his excessively long beard (Bugs could have beards? This was new to Zim) as he stormed towards the trio. He stopped before them and held up his hand as if he was about to scold them, but then looked at Zim and his expression changed from anger to surprise. Zim wondered for a moment if it was because of his strange appearance when compared to the other inhabitants here, or if the damage from the water was just that bad.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger sighed and then began to speak in an annoyed tone, “What happened here?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim and the Knight both looked at each other, completely at a loss to how either of them would articulate what on earth just happened.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger then sighed even harder and then gestured for them to come with him, which was met with vigorous head shaking from the both of them.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“What is it now?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim, still partially in shock, but also the only one of the trio currently capable of speech, attempted to speak, “I- The water!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Wyrm’s sake! A bit of water isn’t going to hurt you!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“It burns Zim!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger paused, and then put his face into his hands.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“So you’re telling me. That you, a person who </span>
  <em>
    <span>apparently</span>
  </em>
  <span> can’t touch water without </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>happening,” He gestured towards Zim’s very clearly burned face, “Just happen to be in what I assume to be the </span>
  <em>
    <span>wettest place in Hallownest.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“...Yes?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger sighed in annoyance once more and then thought for a moment.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Yeah. Like he was going anywhere anytime soon.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger returned with several of what looked like blankets, or maybe shower curtains. He helped Zim get up from the ground and turned to the Knight.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I assume that you’re fine touching water?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>They nodded.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Alright then.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The stranger quickly draped the blankets over Zim, and before he could protest grabbed his hand and began sprinting as fast as possible, jumping over the gaps with Zim following close behind. Zim was very surprised at how much agility the bug possessed, but then realized that the bug likely lived here and had probably jumped across these gaps hundreds of times. Eventually the stranger stopped abruptly, causing Zim to stop just short of crashing into him. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Here we are. You’re pretty lucky, these things were only a couple of seconds from being soaked through.” He said as he took the blankets off of Zim. Zim looked behind himself and saw that the Knight was following close behind, luckily holding Gir who he hadn’t had the chance to pick back up. They made it to the overhang and handed him back to Zim, who gave a quick “Thank you” before following the stranger who was waiting in yet another elevator. This place had a lot of elevators. The group ended up following the stranger into a shop that Zim assumed was also where he lived. The stranger then turned to face the trio.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I never got the chance to introduce myself. I’m Relic Seeker Lemm, and this is my home. You are?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim blanked for a moment before realizing that he had been asked a question. “I am Invader Zim, and this is my loyal SIR Unit, Gir!” He held up Gir for emphasis. “Gir is currently out of commission because of uh, unseen circumstances. And this is the Knight.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Lemm seemed skeptical but didn’t comment. He disappeared to the back of the store and came out holding what Zim realized were bandages. “Okay, hold still so that I can-”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Oh, that won’t be necessary! Zim’s Pak heals all injuries within minutes!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Lemm raised a brow. “It’s already been minutes, and the side of your face doesn’t look very healed to me.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim’s eyes widened and he touched the side of his face, which still stung revealing that, indeed, the burn had not been healed in the slightest. Maybe the same thing that happened to Gir was happening to his Pak? Was he also solar powered?! Was he going to die?!! Zim instantly began panicking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The Knight began patting the side of his head as he became very visibly upset by this new development.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Lemm turned to the Knight with wide eyes as Zim began very clearly hyperventilating for seemingly no good reason.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Do you have any idea what’s happening? Is this a usual thing?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The Knight shook their head and then, after noticing that patting the side of his face was doing absolutely nothing, grabbed both of his shoulders and started shaking him forward and backwards, hard.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Luckily, this seemed to bring him back a little, and Zim remembered that his pak legs were functioning perfectly fine and that he hadn’t seen his lifeclock just yet. He began to assure himself that it must be a problem exclusive to the healing, not the entire Pak.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Once Zim was relatively calmed down, Lemm spoke once more. “Now are you going to let me help you, or are you just going to let that get infected like an idiot?”</span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Zim did not like infection, so he reluctantly exposed the burnt side of his face so that Lemm could take a look at it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Zim's Pak not healing him has nothing to do with Hallownest. His Pak just isn't feeling it.</p>
<p>Lemm's a pretty grumpy dude, but I don't believe for a second that he wouldn't help out people who needed it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. That goddamn fucking fountain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Zim and Lemm talk for a while.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>By the time Zim woke up, Lemm was back at the counter of the shop.</span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zim had apparently been sleeping on the floor, and sometime during his sleep someone, probably the Knight, had dragged a blanket on top of him. A nice gesture, even if he hadn’t been particularly cold last he remembered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Zim sat up, Lemm began to speak without turning around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your little friend left to go explore the sewers or something. I think they’ll be back. Your whatever unit is leaned up against the wall there. You’re welcome to stay here until you’re healed up, but touch any of my relics and I’ll kick you out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn’t get much more blunt than that. Zim turned to the wall, and, as Lemm had said, Gir was there, still sleeping but luckily safe. He was also wrapped in a blanket, presumably the Knight’s doing as well. Zim slowly got up and realized that the entire burnt side of his face was completely bandaged up. A little excessive in his opinion, but whatever.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Zim walked to the front, Lemm began to speak again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You passed out there, right on the floor, the second I so much as touched your burn. It was pretty funny, actually.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Attempting to change the subject, Zim replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So do you just sit up here all day, doing nothing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m waiting for any people to come by who might have relics that the willing to sell.”</span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So doing nothing then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lemm didn’t answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, that conversation was clearly done. Zim had a lot of time to kill, now. But what should he do? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim stepped past the counter to go see how much of this building he could explore without getting wet.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“If you get burned again I’m not going to bandage you up for a second time. I have other things to do.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Zim had a feeling he was lying about that, but he still wasn’t going to go and stand out in the rain anyways. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>He took the elevator downwards and saw what appeared to be… an opened sewer grate? Apparently Lemm wasn’t being sarcastic when he said that they were exploring the sewers. Zim observed his surroundings and saw that both sides led out of the building. Well, there was nothing to do out here. Trying to find the Knight would probably be a literal death wish, so he simply went back up the elevator and sat back down behind the counter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lemm, as one does when waiting for something in awkward silence, began to ramble. To Zim’s surprise, Lemm’s ramblings were actually rather interesting at some points.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He talked of the intricacies of relic seeking, odd customers who had come by over the years, and some of the unsolved mysteries of Hallownest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely no information on them anywhere! It’s like the Five Great Knights never existed besides that blasted title!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bug was full on ranting at this point. And then he spoke of the fountain outside the window, just barely visible through the downpour. Zim had yet to take a good look at it, but since it had been mentioned, Zim turned his head to look out the window at the great stone statue that stood tall in the center of the clearing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The statue bore two long, curved horns which reminded him vaguely of the pincers one would find on a beetle. their eyes were set near where their head filtered down to a point, looking forward with a familiar empty, emotionless stare.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No information on them besides that fountain. I’ve been looking for years. But they had to have been important, to have a whole fountain dedicated to them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim thought for a moment, and then spoke. “They almost look a little bit like the Knight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well of course they’re a knight, it’s carved into the-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, no. The little thing that accompanied me here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim was heavily surprised by the sound of Lemm’s hands slamming into his desk as he lifted himself up as fast as possible to rush over to the window and press his face against the glass in a display that was rather unlike his usual demeanor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My </span>
  <em>
    <span>word.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Lemm said in what Zim presumed to be awe, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re right</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zim was about to introduce the notion that it could certainly be a coincidence, as he didn’t want Lemm getting his hopes up, but, having impeccable timing, just then the sound of the elevator being called down rang throughout the room, and the Knight arrived in it a few seconds after. They were absolutely drenched, but for once in his life Lemm did not care and seized the poor thing by their shoulders.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What do you know about the Hollow Knight?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sorry that this chapter’s a little short but im tired</p><p>zim’s “passing out on the floor” deal was a combo of “im fucking tired” and “im fucking done feeling pain for today”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Who the fuck are they?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span>After many attempts to calm him down, Zim and the Knight were able to convince Lemm that </span><em><span>really, </span></em><span>all the Knight knew about the Hollow Knight was that marking on their map, and nothing more.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Zim could tell that Lemm was absolutely </span><em><span>fuming </span></em><span>over this development. Understandable, considering that the only “lead” he had gotten on this mystery in years had turned out to be a dead end.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Why do you not simply go to where the marking is on the map? It has the face on it.” Zim asked, confused at how Lemm apparently hadn’t thought of that.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Lemm gave Zim an incredulous look.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Everyone knows that there’s no way out of this city.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>This statement hit Zim like a sack of bricks. He was stuck in this water-filled hell</span><em><span>… forever? </span></em><span>Even being stuck here for more than a couple of days felt like it would kill him (literally), but the rest of the foreseeable future? Blasphemy. He would tear away at these stone walls with his own bare claws if that was what it took to-</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>His thought process was promptly interrupted by something hitting his leg rather hard, causing him to fall, yelling, onto the ground. It became pretty apparent afterwards that the Knight had headbutted him.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“What do you want?!” Zim yelled at the Knight, who was standing there as if they hadn’t just knocked him over.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“You kind of clocked out for a bit” Lemm said, “We couldn’t get you to respond to anything.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“You’re lying.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“What? No, you were staring at the wall like you’d seen a ghost-”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“No, no! There </span><em><span>has </span></em><span>to be another way out of this blasted city!”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Look, I’ve lived here my whole life. If there was a way out, I would know about it.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“YOU’RE LYING!” Zim didn’t really know where that outburst came from, but it certainly felt right.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Lemm paused for a moment before replying, clearly annoyed.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Why would I lie about something like that?”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Eh- I- I DON’T KNOW!” Zim turned to the Knight.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“You must have found an exit in those sewers, right?”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight shook their head.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Well come on, we’ll go find one!” Zim picked up Gir and began walking towards the elevator, grabbing a very confused Knight and dragging them to it as well.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>As the elevator lowered, Zim looked up to see that Lemm was staring at all of them as if they were stupid, but making no move to stop them.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Zim stormed past the sewer, and right out into the rain.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>And then, remembering a very important factor, turned right back around and walked back under shelter.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight, however, saw the fountain and seemed intrigued by it, walking further out, until-</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Zim stumbled further into the building as white, glowing thread flew into view and, before anything else could be registered, an odd bug stood directly before the Knight, and began to speak to the Knight. Zim crawled as far out towards the rain as he dared, but alas, he wasn’t exactly known for his good hearing, and only heard small mumbles over the thundering rain. The Knight appeared to listen intently to their words, before the stranger grappled with their string out of view. They then proceeded to plod back over to where Zim sat on the cold stone floor, and look up at him in the way that seemed to be their way of prompting him to talk.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“What was </span><em><span>that </span></em><span>about?” Zim said, knowing well that there was no way in hell he was getting a coherent answer.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight simply shrugged. Typical.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Well, best to stick to what he was good at: Ignoring things. “As I was saying, there is no way that ZIM will be staying in this </span><em><span>FILTHY</span></em><span> city for longer than he has to!”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight looked out towards the pattering rain outside of the building, as if to make a point.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“I know,</span> <span>but there has to be some way out of here!” Zim thought for a moment. “There’s got to be an exit. Are you sure there’s nothing down there?” He said, pointing to the hole that led to the place the Knight had been allegedly exploring today.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight promptly grabbed his hand and, before he could object, thrust his head over the edge, forcing him to look down. It was dark down there, and he couldn’t see much, but he could certainly see the light reflecting off of the water that was clearly </span><em><span>everywhere</span></em><span> down there. Honestly, he didn’t know what he expected. It was a </span><em><span>sewer.</span></em><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Right. No going down there either way.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight tilted their head, pointing upwards.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>Zim thought for a moment. “You’re right. We haven’t tried going upwards yet.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight replied by pointing to him, and then upwards once more, seeming to be communicating that he, specifically, should go up, presumably to let the Knight tend to searching in the rainy areas.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>“Right. If you find anything, come get me, and I’ll do the same.”</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>The Knight, seeming pleased with this answer, jumped back down into the sewer. Zim had no idea how they could handle that much damned </span><em><span>water, </span></em><span>even if it didn’t burn them.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>He walked back to the elevator, realizing that this would be his first time actively exploring these ruins without the Knight to help, which, while he would never admit it, sounded like a daunting task, even if he presumably wasn’t going to run into any rain while inside of the building.</span><span><br/></span><span><br/></span><span>This wasn’t going to be very fun.</span><span></span><br/></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, please tell me if I did anything wrong, like messing up lore or characterization or making grammar mistakes or anything.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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